No property tax increase in county

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Wheatland County is not raising property taxes this year, but it will be tightening its purse strings on spending.
At its regular meeting on April 21, county council deferred several capital and operating projects to future years.
“This has resulted in a zero percent property tax increase for residents, which was one of council’s top priorities,” said Amber Link, Wheatland County reeve.
Approximately $10 million was cut from the capital budget outlining the town’s plan for fixed asset spending over the next four years. Cutting costs means some projects will now be delayed, including the proposed Carseland fire hall and some planned improvements to unpaved roads.
But all is not lost for these projects, as provincial or federal stimulus money could be on its way, said Link.
“We are hopeful that we will receive stimulus funding from either federal or provincial sources, which will allow us to start some of our shovel-ready projects,” she said.
The county is also reducing the level of seasonal staffing.
A decrease in revenue in the budget may lead to minor service level changes to ratepayers, but the county is trying to not cut services outright, said Division 1 Councillor Jason Wilson.
“I don’t think the average person is going to see a major downgrade in service level,” said Wilson. “It just might take an extra two days to get your road graded.”
The budget sidelines some capital projects the county was planning in to attract businesses, added Wilson.
“We were looking at servicing parts of the county to have plots of land ready for investment – for businesses to move in – but now with a decrease of revenue, we are unable access those funds,” he said. “That is going to hurt, because those are the infrastructure investments that you want, when there’s a good chance of getting your money back.”
Reducing budget costs will help the county and its residents during a challenging economic time, said Wilson.
“Rather than building a bunch of stuff and getting the money from the taxpayers, we have held taxes the last two years,” he said. “We are making sure people have money in their pockets and putting government on the back burner.
“If individuals and families can’t afford to buy groceries, we shouldn’t be building new infrastructure or hiring new people.”